Influence of market orientation on performance: the moderating roles of customer participation breadth and depth in new product development

ABSTRACT

With a greater number of B2B firms integrating customers into the new product development (NPD) process, how to utilize customer involvement in NPD is an important decision because it may be a double-edged sword carrying both bright and dark sides. Utilizing a sample of 193 B2B firms across various industries, we validate previous research that suggests market orientation positively influences NPD performance and subsequently examine how this relationship may either be enhanced or diminished contingent upon how customers are utilized in the NPD process. The results show that the market orientation–NPD performance relationship is enhanced by having customers participate in a greater number of activities throughout NPD (customer participation breadth) and diminished when customers are involved at deeper levels (customer participation depth). This research suggests that the exact involvement of customers is a critical decision and has clear implications for the dialogues about customer involvement and management of customer relationships.     

Competitive growth of Al2O3/YAG/ZrO2 eutectic ceramics during directional solidification: Effect of interfacial energy

The microstructure evolution and growth behavior of the Al₂O₃/Y₃Al₅O₁₂(YAG)/ZrO₂ ternary eutectic ceramics during directional solidification were well investigated. During directional solidification of the Al₂O₃/YAG/ZrO₂ ternary eutectic ceramics, {} Al₂O₃ paralleled with {001}ZrO₂ while they did not parallel with {001}YAG at the same time in the competitive growth stage. All of the interfaces parallel to each other finally. The area percentage of the Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ and YAG/ZrO₂ interfaces are 40.4 ± 0.2% and 30.8 ± 0.1%, respectively, higher than that of the Al₂O₃/YAG (28.8 ± 0.2%). The content of Al₂O₃ and YAG phases are 39.9% and 41.1%, respectively, almost double of that of ZrO₂. The interfaces of Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ and YAG/ZrO₂ are shorter and more dispersed than that of the Al₂O₃/YAG. It was found that the interfacial energy of Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ and YAG/ZrO₂ interfaces are lower than that of Al₂O₃/YAG. It can be concluded that interfacial energy plays a decisive role in affecting the crystallographic orientation and interfaces distribution in the Al₂O₃/YAG/ZrO₂ eutectic since the interfaces of Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ and YAG/ZrO₂ with lower interfacial energy can be formed more easily during directional solidification. Therefore, the contents of Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ and YAG/ZrO₂ interfaces are higher. This study can provide theoretical guidance for interface design of multi-phase materials.     

Rayleigh-Type Wave in A Rotated Piezoelectric Crystal Imperfectly Bonded on a Dielectric Substrate

Propagation characteristics of Rayleigh-type wave in a piezoelectric layered system are theoretically investigated. The piezoelectric layer is considered as a cubic crystal with finite thickness rotated about Y-axis and is imperfectly bonded onto a semi-infinite dielectric substrate. The imperfect interface between the two constituents is assumed to be mechanically compliant and dielectrically weakly conducting. The exact dispersion relations for electrically open or shorted boundary conditions are obtained. The numerical results show that the phase velocity of Rayleigh-type wave is symmetric with respect to the cut orientation of 45。 and can achieve the maximum propagation speed in this orientation. The mechanical imperfection plays an important role in the dispersion relations, further the normal imperfection can produce a significant reduction of phase velocity comparing with the tangential imperfection. Comparing with the mechanical imperfection the electrical imperfection makes a relatively small reduction of phase velocity of Rayleigh-type wave. The obtained results can provide some fundamentals for understanding of piezoelectric semiconductor and for design and application of piezoelectric surface acoustic wave devices.     

汉英双语法庭口译员角色定位的伦理思考

关于汉英法庭口译员的角色定位,从译员的主体性意识角度出发,得出其在庭审过程中担任的有"信息的筛选人","交际的调解人","权力的平衡人"以及"立场的倾斜人"四种不同的角色,这四种角色的交织关系具化了在庭审过程中译员所展现出来的主体性意识。同时也不能回避其自身的伦理意识问题。以切斯特曼的五种翻译伦理模式为导向,结合相关真实庭审语料分析,对汉英双语法庭口译员的角色定位进行客观的伦理评价,得到如下发现:1)译员主体性意识下的汉英双语法庭口译员的四种角色符合翻译伦理要求;2)汉英双语法庭口译员的角色定位并不是一层不变的,只要符合翻译伦理要求,译员角色的定位可以有新的突破和发展。     

Microstructural characteristics of as-forged and β-air-cooled Zr–2.5Nb alloy

Multiple characterization and analysis techniques including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), electron channeling contrast (ECC) imaging, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and microhardness test were jointly employed to investigate microstructural characteristics such as local composition, morphology, grain boundary characteristics and interphase orientation relationship of a forged Zr–2.5Nb alloy before and after β-air-cooling. Results show that the as-forged specimen is composed of equiaxed and lamellar α grains and continuous net-like β-Zr films. After the β-air-cooling, the microstructure of the specimen is featured by basket-weave Widmanstätten structure, in which the inter-α-plate second phases are nanoscale β-Zr. Analyses for crystallographic orientations reveal that the Burgers relationship has been strictly followed during the β→α cooling. Compared to the as-forged specimen, the hardness of the β-air-cooled specimen is higher, which could be attributed to the decreased structural sizes of both α and β phases, and the increased fraction of high angle boundaries as well.     

An effective strategy to enhance the electrochemical performance of LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2: Optimizing a Li diffusion pathway via magnetic alignment of single-crystal cathode material under an ordinary 0.4-T magnetic field

A strategy to enhance the electrochemical performance of a single-crystal LiNi_xMn_yCo_zO₂ (NCM) electrode is proposed herein based on a preferred orientation of a Li diffusion pathway along the working direction under an ordinary 0.4-T magnetic field. Hexagonal NCM622 single crystals can be aligned along their crystallographic c-axis parallel to the applied magnetic field because the crystal has an easy magnetization axis along the c-axis. The horizontal magnetic field–oriented NCM622 cathode (HMFC) shows inhibited polarization and increased lithium-ion conductivity. The suppressed polarization promotes cyclability, increasing the specific capacity from 157.93 to 168.75 mAhg^?1 after the 100th cycle at 0.5 C. Furthermore, the increased diffusion coefficient (from 3.06 × 10^?10 cm²s^?1 to 7.12 × 10^?10 cm²s^?1) causes substantial improvement in the rate performance, achieving a high specific capacity of 130.77 mAhg^?1 at 10 C, while the electrode without magnetic treatment achieves a specific capacity of only 115.88 mAhg^?1. Owing to such a superior electrochemical performance, the HMFC electrodes show high potential for lithium-ion batteries in the EV industry. Decreasing the magnetic field from 6 to 0.4 T for cathode alignment facilitates the applicability of the proposed strategy to production lines of battery plants using commercially available permanent magnets because a magnetic field of 0.4 T is easily achievable.     

Unraveling the attitudes on entrepreneurial universities: The case of Croatian and Spanish universities

The objective of this paper is to present evidence that there are different types of supportive faculty members. We conducted a case study on a sample of Croatian and Spanish universities by using an already tested ENTRE-U scale for measuring the faculty members' attitudes. These two scenarios are quite different in terms of their innovation systems, economic context and university system. We tested and found no evidence of any statistically significant difference due to the country. These two facts suggest the possible existence of an isomorphic trajectory when implementing entrepreneurial universities regardless the context. University managers should be aware of the existence of three different types of supportive individuals. Each of these groups requires a certain program of human resource development. This shifts the debate to how entrepreneurial universities should manage the tensions arising from the need of some degree of specialization in any of the three roles of the faculty members, namely teaching, researching and transfer of the knowledge stemming from research results.     

Strain‐induced deformation mechanisms of polylactide plasticized with acrylated poly(ethylene glycol) obtained by reactive extrusion

This work aimed at identifying the tensile deformation mechanisms of an original grade of plasticized polylactide (pPLA) obtained by reactive extrusion. This material had a glass transition temperature of 32.6 °C and consisted of a polylactide (PLA) matrix grafted with poly(acryl‐poly(ethylene glycol)) (poly(Acryl‐PEG)) inclusions. pPLA behaved like a rubber‐toughened amorphous polymer at 20 °C, and its tensile behavior evolved toward a rubbery semicrystalline polymer with increasing temperature. The drawing of pPLA involved orientation of amorphous and crystalline chains, crystallization, and destruction of crystals. It was found that crystal formation and crystal destruction were in competition below 50 °C, resulting in a constant or slightly decreasing crystallinity with strain. Increasing temperature enhanced crystal formation and limited crystal destruction, resulting in an increased crystallinity with the strain level. Drawing yielded a transformation of the initial spherical poly(Acryl‐PEG) inclusions into ellipsoids oriented in the tensile direction. This mechanism may engender the formation of nanovoids within the inclusions due to a decreased density, assumed to be responsible for the whitening of the specimen. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Sol-gel processed highly (100)-textured (K,Na)NbO3-based lead-free thin films: Effect of pyrolysis temperature

Recently, lead-free piezoelectric thin films have received increasing attention due to the growing demands for mircoelectromechanical systems and the significant progress in lead-free piezoelectric research. Here, potassium sodium niobate [(K, Na)NbO₃ (KNN)]-based thin films were fabricated via a sol-gel method. The effects of pyrolysis temperature on the resulting microstructure and electrical properties of KNN-based films were investigated. The KNN-based film pyrolyzed at 550°C and annealed at 700°C shows a dominant (100) orientation with a high texturing degree of 91.7%. The microstructures, morphologies, piezo- and ferroelectric properties of the KNN-based films were discussed in association with different pyrolysis temperatures. The crystallization mechanism of the (100) textured KNN-based thin films was elaborated in detail.     

Using the external magnetic field of composites to control fiber orientation and enhancement of electrical conductivity

The industrial developments have led to more applications of various composites. Since fiber orientation and distribution will influence product performance in composites, controlling said orientation and distribution is of critical importance. This study used external magnetic fields to control the fiber orientation and distribution in a polymer. The orientation of the actual fibers under magnetic field control during flowing was observed using a visualization system, which was made by PMMA and transparent epoxy as an upper cover and filling polymer. In order to clearly observe and calculate, 0.1 wt% fiber content was used, and 0.3 wt% fiber content was used to measure conductivity. Fiber distribution angles without a magnetic field concentrate parallel to the flow direction (0° ~ 30° and 151° ~ 180°) while distribution angles under magnetic field control were concentrated along the magnetic field direction, which was perpendicular to the flow direction (61° ~ 120°). The higher the magnetic flux density, the larger the torque of the electromagnetic field on the fibers and the higher the orientation of fibers was with the magnetic field. The electrical conductivity was 12.23 times higher for 1 mm fibers in an external magnetic field versus no magnetic field.